Housing affordability drops despite quarterly rise

Property is proving to be harder to afford for Australians, according to a report by Adelaide Bank and the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

Property is proving to be harder to afford for Australians, according to a report by Adelaide Bank and the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

The proportion of income required to meet home loan repayments increased by 0.6 percentage points to 30.4 per cent nationally over the 12 months to September 2014, despite decreasing by 0.5 per cent over the third quarter.

Of the states and territories, Victoria experienced the biggest rise, with an increase of one percentage point to 31.9 per cent over the 12 months to September.

New South Wales rose 0.7 percentage points to 34.5 per cent, while Queensland and Western Australia both increased by 0.5 points to 28.1 per cent and 25.9 per cent respectively.

South Australia rose 0.3 points to 26.8 per cent, while the Northern Territory witnessed no change, remaining at 27.2 per cent.

Only two of the states and territories experienced a decrease in the proportion of income needed to meet loan repayments – the ACT dropped by 0.4 points to 19.4 per cent; Tasmania 0.2 points to 24.4 per cent.